When I was seven my father gave me a Timex, my first watch. I loved it,wore it for years, and haven’t had another one since it stopped ticking adecade ago. Why? Because I don’t need one. I have a mobile phone and I’m alwaysnear someone with an iPod or something like that. All these devices （装置） tell the time — which iswhy, if you look around, you’ll see lots of empty wrists sales of watches toyoung adults have been going down since 2007. But while the wise have realized that they don’t needthem, others — apparently including some distinguished men of our time — arespending total fortunes on them. Brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe andBreitling command shocking prices, up to ￡ 250,000 for a piece. This is ridiculous. Expensive cars go faster thancheap cars. Expensive clothes hang better than cheap clothes. But these daysall watches tell the time as well as all other watches. Expensive watches comewith extra functions — but who needs them? How often do you dive to 300 metresinto the sea or need to find your direction in the area around the South Pole?So why pay that much of five years’ school fees for watches that allow you todo these things? If justice were done, the Swiss watch industry shouldhave closed down when the Japanese discovered how to make accurate watches fora five-pound note. Instead the Swiss reinvented the watch, with the aid ofmillions of pounds’ worth of advertising, as a message about the man wearing it.Rolexes are for those who spend their weekends climbing icy mountains a PatekPhilippe is for one from a rich or noble family a Breitling suggests you liketo pilot planes across the world. Watches are now classified as “investments ” （投资） . A 1994 Patek Philipperecently sold for nearly ￡ 350,000, while 1960s Rolexeshave gone from ￡ 15,000 to ￡ 30,000 plus in a year. But awatch is not an investment. It’s a toy for self-satisfaction, a matter offashion. Prices may keep going up — they’ve been rising for 15 years. But whenfashion moves on, the owner of that ￡ 350,000 beauty will suddenlyfind his pride and joy is no more a good investment than my childhood Timex. 59. The sales of watches to young people have fallenbecause they . A. have other devices to tell the time                      B.think watches too expensive C. prefer to wear an iPod                                      D.have no sense of time 60. It seems ridiculous to the writer that ______. A. people dive 300 metres into the sea B. expensive clothes sell better than cheap ones C. cheap cars don’t run as fast as expensive ones D. expensive watches withunnecessary functions still sell 61. What can be learnt about Swiss watch industry from the passage? A. It targets rich people as its potential customers. B. It’s hard for the industry to beat its competitors. C. It wastes a huge amount of money in advertising. D. It’s easy for theindustry to reinvent cheap watches. 21 世纪教 62. Which would be the best title for the passage? A. Timex or Rolex?                                     B.My Childhood Timex C. Watches? Not for Me!                               D.Watches — a Valuable Collection